Racial Disparities in Americas Justice System - Research Paper Example

Racial Disparities in America’s Justice System Problem Statement Ever since Rosa Parks refused to stand up and give up her bus seat, the United States has made numerous advances towards ensuring that all its citizens are legally able to obtain equal rights. The total number of persons from minority groups that are employed in what are perceived to be positions of power has been noted to continue growing in both the private and the public sectors. They now enjoy more educational and economic opportunities in the country’s history. However, there has been a great degree of concern over the glaring inequalities that are noted to continue affecting the country’s criminal justice system. Whereas the inequalities experienced in other areas of societies are steadily reducing, it is quite concerning that in the country’s criminal justice system, these inequalities continue to grow (LCEF & LCCR, 2000). The issue of gnarling inequality in the criminal justice system is significant to society as it continues to hamper the society’s efforts to enhance and promote equality for all. This paper will seek to show that America’s justice system continues to exhibit glaring inequalities. Literature Review A report by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), African Americans in the country are estimated to constitute about 13% of the country’s total population, however, despite this relatively low percentage, African-Americans are statistically estimated to constitute about 28% of all arrests. These figures by the NCCD are found to be similar to those of a report by Mauer (1999) that found that despite their constituting of only 13% of the total population, African Americans account for 40% of all the inmates that are currently being held in jails and prisons around the country. In addition to this, they also constitute of about 42% of the total population on death row. In comparison, White American are estimated to make up about 67% of the country’s population and account for 70% of all the arrests that are made across the country. They account for 40% of all inmates that are held in prisons and local jails, this is a figure found to be similar to that of the African American population. Whites also make up about 56% of the total population that is currently on death row (Taxman & Byrne, 2005). Native Americans and Hispanics are noted to be alarmingly over represented in the United States Criminal justice system. This severe overrepresentation of persons of color in the country’s criminal justice system an aspect that is also commonly referred to as disproportionate minority contact (DMC) has repeatedly proven to be a serious issue in our society (Hartney & Vuong, 2009). According to the same NCCD report, the arrest rate of African Americans is essentially 2.5 times higher as compared to that for White Americans. Native Americans were typically arrested at about 1.5 times the rate at which Whites were being arrested. They were also noted to have higher disparity for certain public order offense and violent acts. In the report, the Asia Pacific Islanders were the only racial group that were found to be under represented as compared to whites (Hartney & Vuong, 2009). The racial disparity currently existing in the justice system is also noted to affect juveniles as well as is evidenced by data that shows that African American rates of residential placement were at over 4 times, Native Americans 3 times and Hispanics at 2 times that of whites. The rate of youth admitted to adult prisons was 7 times higher for African Americans, and twice as high in the case of Native Americans as that for White youth (Mauer, 1999). According to Weich & Angulo (2002), racial profiling by the police is noted to be greatly contributing to the inequality in the country’s criminal system. In 1992, in Volusia County Florida, nearly 70% of all the drivers stopped on a particular interstate highway were found to be either Hispanic or Black. However, only 5% of the drivers on this highway were Hispanic or Black. In addition to this, minorities were generally detained for longer time periods than Whites and 80% of their cars were searched after being stopped. Theory According to the functionalist theory, society is essentially perceived to be an organism whose various components, institutions, and organizations all have their own individual functions but essentially all work together. Functionalism perceives crime to essentially be a normal function of society. Although crime is generally regarded as being an unnecessary inconvenience in a given society, functionalism differs with this perception and is of the belief that crime holds a number of important functions in society. According to functionalist theories, the existence of crime has been useful in the development of an entire job-creating industry in the form of law enforcement (Hess, Orthmann & Wright, 2012). In addition to this, crime greatly promotes social cohesion as it tends to bring people together in what is a united front against those persons deemed to be disreputable and dangerous. In this respect, the American criminal justice system is arguably engineered to fight the criminal activities of the minority groups that it deems to be dangerous and disreputable. This is what has resulted to the racial disparities that have been noted to exist within it. Conclusion The unequal treatment of minority groups in our criminal justice system has been noted to primarily be manifesting itself in what is a mushrooming prison population that overwhelmingly mostly comprises of Hispanics and African Americans. Law enforcement has rather inadvertently also played a critical role in promoting this disparity as it regularly engages in racial profiling. This has resulted in there being a larger number of minority groups who are regularly stopped or arrested as compared to Whites. This racial profiling has also resulted in more minority convictions and arrests. This is a factor that serves to further perpetuate the belief that minorities tend to commit more crimes. Disparate treatment within the country’s criminal justice system is not rational as all the different races in the country are equally prone to commit criminal activities. The Unequal treatment and unfair targeting of minorities at nearly every stage of the country’s criminal justice process from an individual’s initial arrest to sentencing has severed to further reinforce the perceptions that drive the inequality. It is important for urgent measures to be undertaken to stop this worrying trend that has seen America’s justice system continuing to exhibit glaring inequalities. References Hartney, C., & Vuong, L. (2009). Created equal: Racial and ethnic disparities in the US criminal justice system. National Council on Crime and Delinquency Report. Retrieved on September 22, 2014 from http://www.nccdglobal.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/created-equal.pdf Hess, K., Orthmann, C., & Wright, J. (2012). Juvenile Justice. Cengage Learning. Leadership Conference Education Fund (LCEF), & Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR). (2000). Justice on trial: Racial disparities in the American criminal justice system. Washington, D.C.: Leadership Conference Education Fund. Mauer, M. (1999). The crisis of the young African American male and the criminal justice system. Impacts of incarceration on the African American family, 199. Taxman, F. S., & Byrne, J. M. (2005). Racial disparity and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system: exploring consequences for deterrence. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 16(4), 57-77. Weich, R., & Angulo, C. (2002). Racial disparities in the American criminal justice system. Rights at risk: Equality in an age of terrorism, 185-218. Read More